USuncutMN says: Tax the corporations! Tax the rich! Stop the cuts, fight for social justice for all. Standing in solidarity with http://www.usuncut.org/ and other Uncutters worldwide. FIGHT for a Foreclosure Moratorium! Foreclosure = homelessness. Resist the American Legislative Exchange Council, Grover Norquist and Citizen's United. #Austerity for the wheeler dealers, NOT the people.

USuncutMN supports #occupyWallStreet, #occupyDC, the XL Pipeline resistance Yes, We, the People, are going to put democracy in all its forms up front and center. Open mic, diversity, nonviolent tactics .. Social media, economic democracy, repeal Citizen's United, single-payer healthcare, State Bank, Operation Feed the Homeless, anti-racism, homophobia, sexISM, war budgetting, lack of transparency, et al. Once we identify who we are and what we've lost, We can move forward.

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

The Goal is Not to Occupy it is to End Corporate Rule

The Goal is Not to Occupy it is to End Corporate Rule

By Kevin Zeese

December 11, 2011 "Information Clearing House" --
With encampments being closed across the country it is important to
remember the end goal is not to occupy public space, it is to end
corporate rule. We seek to replace the rule of money with the rule of
people. Occupying is a tactic but the grand strategy of the Occupy
Movement is to weaken the pillars that hold the corporate-government in place by educating, organizing and mobilizing people into an independent political force.

The
occupations of public space have already done a great deal to lift the
veil of lies. People are now more aware than ever that the wealth
divide is caused by a rigged economic system of crony capitalism and
that we can create a fair economy
that works for all Americans. We are also aware that many of our
fellow citizens are ready to take action – extreme action of sleeping
outside in the cold in a public park. And, we also now know that we
have the power to shift the debate and force the economic and political elites to listen to us. In just a few months we have made a difference.

Occupying
public space involves a lot of resources and energy that could be spent
educating, organizing and mobilizing people in much greater numbers.
There is a lot to do to end corporate rule and the challenges of
occupying public space can divert our attention and resources from other
responsibilities we have as a movement.

When we were organizing the Occupation of Washington, DC
– before the occupation of Wall Street began – we were in conversation
with movements around the world. The Spanish Indignados told us that an
occupation should last no more than two weeks. After that it becomes a
diversion from the political objectives. The occupation begins to
spend its time dealing with poverty, homelessness, inadequately treated
mental illness and addiction – this has been experienced by occupies
across the country.

Occupying
for a short time accomplishes many of the objectives of holding public
space – the political dialogue is affected, people are mobilized and all
see that fellow citizens can effectively challenge the corporate-state.
Staying for a lengthy period continues to deepen these goals but the
impacts are more limited and the costs get higher.

What to
do next? The Occupy Movement needs to bring participatory democracy to
communities. Occupiers should develop an aggressive organizing plan for
their city. Divide the city and appoint people to be responsible for
different areas of the city. Depending on how many people you have make
these areas as small as possible. Develop plans for house-to-house
campaigns where you knock on doors, provide literature, ask what you can
do to make their lives better. Do they need snow removed? Clothes?
If so, get the occupy team to fulfill their needs, find used clothes,
clean their yard – whatever you can do to help. This shows community
and builds relationships.

Plan a
march through the different communities in the city. Make it a
spectacle. Have a marching band. Don’t have one – reach out to local
school bands. Organize them. Create floats, images and signs. Display
yourselves and your message. Hand out literature as you march. Let
people know what the occupy stands for they should join us in building a
better world for them and their families.

Plan
public General Assemblies in communities across the city. Teach people
the General Assembly process, the hand signals, how to stack speakers,
how to listen and reach consensus. Learn the local issues. Solve local
problems. Again, build a community that works together to solve
problems.

Let people know about the National Occupation of Washington DC (NOW DC), the American Spring
beginning on March 30th. Organize people to come, share rides, hire
buses, walk, ride a bike – get people to the nation’s capital to show
the united force of the people against the rule of money. This will be
an opportunity to display our solidarity and demand that the people, not
money, rule.

How
rapidly a movement makes progress is hard to predict. It is never a
constant upswing of growth and progress. We may be in for a sprint, or
more likely, a marathon with hurdles. If you are hoping for a sprint,
note that the deep corruption of the government and the economy has left
both weaker than is publicly acknowledged. It may be a hollowed out
shell ready to fall.

But,
this may also take years to accomplish. Take the timeline of the Civil
Rights movement: 1955 Rosa Parks sits in the front of the bus, not until
five years later in 1960, do the lunch counter sit-ins begin. Not until
three years later in 1963 does Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lead a march
on Washington for the “I have a Dream” speech. No doubt the time
between Rosa Parks and the lunch counter sit-ins and Civil Rights Act
passing in 1964 seemed slow to those involved. Looking back it was
rapid, transformational change. In fact, the movement grew in fits and
starts and had roots decades of activity before the 1950s. In those
times of seeming lull, work was being done, to educate and organize
people that led to the big spurts of progress.

Older
movements, when communication was slower, have taken even longer. The
women’s suffrage movement held its first convention in 1848 in Seneca
Falls, NY. Twenty years later, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association. In 1913, Alice
Paul and Lucy Burns formed the National Women's Party to work for a
constitutional amendment to give women the vote. Finally, in 1919 the
federal woman’s suffrage amendment, originally written by Susan B.
Anthony and introduced in Congress in 1878, was passed by the House of
Representatives and the Senate, sent to the states for ratification and
signed into law one year later.

With
mass media, and especially the new democratized media of social
networks, the Internet, anonymous leaks and independent media, it is
very likely the end of the rule of money will come more quickly. If we
focus on our goal, act with intention and use our energy and resources
wisely victory will come sooner.

Our challenge to corporate power has roots. The Project on Corporations Law and Democracy
was founded in 1995. In 1999 the protests against the World Trade
Organization occurred in Seattle. In 2000, long-time crusader against
corporate power, Ralph Nader, ran his first full presidential campaign
and continues to challenge corporatism. This decade has been called the “Great Turning,” which Joanna Macy has defined as “the shift from the Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining civilization.”

“America Beyond Capitalism” by Gar Alperovitz, just printed its second edition, five years after the first, documenting the evolution of the developing democratized economy.
These are some of the foundations on which the Occupy Movement is
building as the unfairness and insecurity of corporate capitalism
becomes evident to all. Our roots are deeper than the few months of our
existence.

The
elites are foolish to think they will stop this movement by closing
occupations. The Occupy Movement will evolve in new and unpredictable
ways that will make the elites wish for the days of mere public
encampments. The 1% should know they will be held accountable. The
people have found their voice and will not be silenced. The era of the
rule of money is nearing its end.

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